Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 2,600 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa. 
health
Confronting female genital mutilation
The role of youth and ICTs in changing Africa
Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri
2011-07-21, Issue 540
'Confronting Female Genital Mutilation: The Role of Youth and ICTs in Changing Africa' by Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri is a new title from Pambazuka Press. For 25 years campaigners from within and outside Africa have worked on eradicating female genital mutilation. This fascinating short book reports succinctly but in depth on an innovative research and action project among girls and boys in francophone West Africa that explored whether young people’s use of information and communication technology could contribute to the abandonment of female genital mutilation.
The great billion dollar drug scam
Khadija Sharife
2011-07-07, Issue 538
cc NeodoThe pharmaceutical industry uses dirty tricks to maximise profits at any cost, hurting sick people and taxpayers. Khadija Sharife examines the methods used by multinational drug corporations to control markets – and lives.
The most tragic day of Igbo history: 29 May 1966
Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
2011-05-19, Issue 530
cc Wikimedia29 May 1966, the Igbo Day of Affirmation, marks both the start of the 1966 genocide against the Igbo people and the day they decided to survive the violence unleashed against them, writes Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe.
The reconstruction of Haiti: A record of failure
Colette Lespinasse
2011-04-14, Issue 525
cc UN PhotoLast March, donors pledged billions of US dollars for the reconstruction of Haiti, after an earthquake devastated the country. But a year later, a group of 40 Haitian organisations finds that ‘nothing significant has really been undertaken’. Instead Haitian players have been excluded from strategic decision-making and the ‘millions of people affected directly or indirectly by the earthquake continue to face the consequences in destitution, and with no support whatsoever.’
Haiti and the endless revolution
Sokari Ekine
2011-03-24, Issue 522
cc L GAristide’s return to Haiti, the West’s war on Gaddafi, AU intervention and protests in Senegal and Morroco are among the stories covered in this week’s round-up of African uprisings, compiled by Sokari Ekine.
The iron heel: Why the US continues to crush Haitian democracy
Ben Terrall
2011-02-23, Issue 518
cc L GRecent Wikileaks cable releases reveal why the US continues to crush democracy in Haiti.
Haitian diary: Struggling and waiting for the third revolution
2011-01-06, Issue 511
cc HaitianaWriting from Haiti, Sokari Ekine describes the problem of unsanitary conditions, the randomness of the destruction caused by last year’s earthquake, the wounds of people who survived and the possibility of a third revolution to come.
Haiti: No resolution in sight?
Sokari Ekine
2011-01-06, Issue 511
cc HaitianaStill reeling from the earthquake, hurricane and cholera outbreak, Haiti has had to face fraudulent elections followed by protests. There’s ‘no resolution in sight, other than possibly to cancel the elections altogether,’ reports Sokari Ekine, in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere.
Haitian diary: survival in the time of cholera
Sokari Ekine
2010-12-21, Issue 510
cc Arie"It’s been just over three weeks and I am finally getting a sense of the destruction to the people and the city. My original plan to meet with women organising in the community has fallen short of what I had hoped due to family crisis, cholera, election protests and now petrol shortages. Still I feel I have met sufficient community activists to get a sense of the truly amazing work they are doing and I will write of these in my final piece, but the story has changed and that in itself is a Haitian story and in this year, more so than usual. The earthquake is unavoidable and the intensity of the destruction is overwhelming. There is a randomness about the destruction. Whole streets destroyed except for one building and in others the whole street standing with one structure collapsed."
Haitian diary: SOPUDEP and local organisation
Sokari Ekine
2010-12-08, Issue 509
cc P LAs she visits Haiti, Sokari Ekine writes of the history behind the community-run SOPUDEP school, the efforts of local organisations to organise in response to the devastation of the country’s earthquake, a micro-credit scheme and people’s broad lack of faith in the power of the current elections to promote change.
Intellectual property: Pharmaceuticals, public health and subtle exploitation
John Christensen and Khadija Sharife
2010-12-08, Issue 509
cc N GInternational intellectual property rights are increasingly serving the needs of the global pharmaceutical industry, write John Christensen and Khadija Sharife.
Haitian diary: Five years in darkness
Sokari Ekine
2010-12-01, Issue 508
cc UN PhotoSokari Ekine is in Haiti for the next four weeks and will be sending regular updates to Pambazuka. During her stay she will be meeting with women community organisers and members of youth groups with a view to documenting their work. Much has been written about the situation in the camps and neighbourhoods such as Cité Soleil and Bel Air, as well as those children and parents involved in SOPUDEP.
No, Haiti should not become a UN Protectorate
Anthony Morgan
2010-12-02, Issue 508
cc R MA closer look at Haiti’s history demonstrates ‘how deeply problematic it is to think that the US and France should play any role in the governance and internal policy-making of Haiti,' writes Anthony Morgan.
World Aids Day: Red ribbon rights for all
Joel Nana
2010-12-01, Issue 508
cc A DTwenty-two years after the first World AIDS Day, it’s time to acknowledge that African governments have officially ‘disappeared’ the existence of three highly vulnerable populations - sex workers, people who inject drugs, and gay and other men who have sex with men (MSM). It’s time for the denial to stop, urges Joel Nana.
Time for new direction in fight against AIDS
Dibussi Tande
2010-12-02, Issue 508
cc Q f NIn recognition of World AIDS Day, Dibussi Tande brings a message from the African blogosphere ‘to think positive, and stand in solidarity with those infected and affected’.
Haiti: Reclaiming sovereignty
2010-11-24, Issue 507
cc UN PhotoAs Haiti gears up for its forthcoming elections, Jean William Jeanty decries the complete absence of transparency in the country around post-earthquake reconstruction and the ability of foreign companies to usurp Haitian law. With the country gripped by cholera (the ‘natural indicator of underdevelopment’), Jeanty stresses that Haiti’s leaders ‘are trying to rush the elections so that they can perpetuate things the way they are’.
Haiti 2010: Exploiting disaster
Part II
Peter Hallward
2010-11-18, Issue 505
cc IFRC‘For the last twenty years, the most powerful political and economic interests in and around Haiti have waged a systematic campaign designed to stifle the popular movement and deprive it of its principal weapons, resources and leaders,' writes Peter Hallward. January’s earthquake ‘triggered reactions that carried and that are still carrying such measures to entirely new levels’.
Gagging the press is dangerous for a government’s health
Cameron Duodu
2010-11-18, Issue 505
cc DRB62‘The road to controlling the press, however attractive to rulers it may be, must be trodden with extreme wariness. For it is luxuriantly strewn with signposts that read: “Expect unintended consequences!”’, writes Cameron Duodu.
The battle against biopiracy
Khadija Sharife
2010-11-11, Issue 504
cc MLBAs multinational food processor Nestlé attempts to patent the well-known benefits of South Africa’s fynbos plants, Khadija Sharife explains the role tax havens play in enabling corporations to protect the value of intellectual property rights.
Haiti 2010: Exploiting disaster
Part I
Peter Hallward
2010-11-11, Issue 504
cc National Guard‘For the last twenty years, the most powerful political and economic interests in and around Haiti have waged a systematic campaign designed to stifle the popular movement and deprive it of its principal weapons, resources and leaders,' writes Peter Hallward. January’s earthquake ‘triggered reactions that carried and that are still carrying such measures to entirely new levels.’
Haiti: ‘We’ve been forgotten’
Sokari Ekine
2010-10-28, Issue 502
cc S T BNearly 11 months since Haiti was devastated by an earthquake, the country is still in ruins, with 1.5 million internally displaced people forced to live in crowded unsanitary conditions. Sokari Ekine reports from the Haitian blogosphere on the progress that hasn’t been made.
South Africa and the MDGs: Talking left, walking right
Patrick Bond
2010-09-23, Issue 497
© abahlali.orgIn an interview with the Inter Press Service (IPS), Patrick Bond discusses the failings of South Africa’s drive towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the extent to which the country’s government continues to operate against the interests of its poor majority.
Cuba in Haiti: Selective commendation, selective indignation
Emily J. Kirk, John M. Kirk and Norman Girvan
2010-04-22, Issue 478
cc A JCuba’s offer to rebuild Haiti’s entire national health service is arguably the most ambitious and impressive pledge made at the UN’s recent donor conference, write Emily J. Kirk, John M. Kirk and Norman Girvan, so why then have its efforts been largely ignored by the media, while those of other governments have been praised?
'Our bodies are shaking now'
Rape follows earthquake in Haiti
Beverly Bell
2010-04-01, Issue 476
cc US ArmyHaiti’s earthquake has left women and children in the country highly vulnerable to rape and violence. Beverly Bell gives an account of this vulnerability and of the relentless work of KOFAVIV (Commission of Women Victim-to-Victim), a grassroots anti-violence group in Haiti, to prevent and protect women and children against rape and violence. Bell depicts the hostile environment that KOFAVIV is working in – one in which police and aid and relief groups are either less than willing to help or have limited resources. Furthermore, Bell points out that KOFAVIV members' advocacy has ‘come at a price’: Their daughters, their families and they are being personally targeted for their work.
Haiti needs solidarity, not charity
Marilyn Langlois interviewed by Amanda Zivcic
2010-03-11, Issue 473
In a revealing interview, Amanda Zivcic asks Marilyn Langlois of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF) about the country's efforts at recovery following its devastating earthquake in January, the dubious practices of foreign organisations ostensibly operating in support of the Haitian people, and the debilitating historical and contemporary role played by US policy.
Haiti: Microcosm of the crisis of development
Yash Tandon
2010-01-28, Issue 467
cc Wikimedia CommonsThe 'failure of development' is to blame for the devastating effects of the recent earthquake in Haiti, writes Yash Tandon. Calling for democratic institutions accountable to the country's people to be put in place, Tandon argues that Haiti is ‘a microcosm of the disastrous outcome' of ‘development’ policies and the 'destructive effects of foreign interventionist policies’ in the affairs of the South.
Health for Haiti
International Association of Health Policy and Federación de Asociaciones para la Defensa de la Sanidad Pública
2010-01-28, Issue 467
The following is joint statement by the International Association of Health Policy and the Federación de Asociaciones para la Defensa de la Sanidad Pública calling on international health organisations to ethically establish proper social and healthcare systems for the people of Haiti.
Securing disaster in Haiti
Peter Hallward
2010-01-28, Issue 467
cc LINKSA fortnight after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010, the initial phase of the US-led relief operation has conformed to three fundamental tendencies that have shaped the more general course of the island's recent history, writes Peter Hallward – the adoption of military priorities and strategies, the sidelining Haiti's own leaders and government, and disregard for the needs of the majority of its people. These same mutually reinforcing tendencies will continue to govern the imminent reconstruction effort too, Hallward cautions, unless determined political action is taken to counteract them.
Haiti can awaken from the dark night of the boar
All together for the redemption of the country that showed us the light of freedom
Amanda Huerta
2010-01-28, Issue 467
cc BilltacularAgainst the backdrop of the fundraising 'Hope for Haiti Now’ concert, Amanda Huerta reflects on the impact that it will have. She believes that it will at least draw the attention of 'those who, by commission or by omission, never cast their eyes on the "third world" because they got lost losing the "second" one'. Haiti has two potential paths, Huerta argues, to become even more quashed by the 'military boot’ or to be rebuilt in solidarity whereby 'We will construct among us the morning … that forever ends the night of the boar.’
Haiti: The roots of poverty and powerlessness
Rebecca Zausmer
2010-01-21, Issue 466
cc UNDPIt has taken an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude, causing momentous loss of life, to get the world talking about Haiti and its past. As the world digests the tragedy, it begins to remember and to criticise too. Rebecca Zausmer does a round-up of the commentary and analysis that is flowing fast about Haiti and the actors in its history.